For an exhibition with such a boring name, the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, never fails to deliver a thought provoking snapshot of what life may be like tomorrow. The 2019 show opens this week in Las Vegas and, as usual, is already garnering global headlines for electronic gadgetry of every kind.
Here are our nine favourite wheeled innovations from this year’s show – all worthy of a place in Future Lab at the Festival of Speed in the summer…
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Hyundai’s latest model is called Elevate and while it does have wheels, they are on the end of articulated, robotic legs which can move in the most amazing ways. They allow Elevate to roll, crawl, climb and even walk over terrain that would stop a Land Rover in its tracks – it can climb a 5ft wall and step over a 5ft gap. Unlikely to be in a Hyundai showroom any time soon, it may well though pop up as a rescue vehicle at the scene of natural disasters like earthquakes where its truly go-anywhere abilities are seen as a potential life-saver. It could be just as useful in cities where it could pick up people with disabilities from their front door.
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Playing a game or watching a movie from the back seat of an Audi may never be the same again if this new concept in virtual reality takes off. By combining real-time vehicle movements – acceleration and cornering and so on – with whatever’s on screen at the time provides a whole new immersive entertainment experience, says Audi. For example, don the special virtual reality glasses and that spaceship you are piloting through the galaxy on screen will speed up, slow down and turn left or right just as the car does. Here’s hoping for no emergency stops… Should keep the kids quiet on even the longest journeys! There’s a side benefit too, says Audi: synchronising the game with reality results in a reduced chance of motion sickness. The new tech is being showcased at CES in the back seat of the new electric Audi e-tron.
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BMW’s big thing at CES this year is its highly contemporary iNext electric SUV concept, due to spawn a production version ready for the showrooms in 2021. At the Las Vegas show BMW demonstrated every side of this technology flagship’s autonomy, connectivity and emissions-free mobility with a virtual driving experience, giving showgoers a taste of what they can expect. Meanwhile on an off-road course outside, BMW is demonstrating autonomy of a different kind, with the first showing of its R1200 GS self-riding motorcycle. The bike can start, accelerate, corner and come to a stop all by itself. BMW believes it can show riders how they can improve their riding skills.
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Two not-before-seen electric bike concepts from the king of American motorcycle cool make their debut at CES this year – along with the production version of the LiveWire, Harley’s first electric bike which, it has now been confirmed, will start shipping later this year at almost $30,000. For Harley, electric is a big part of its future and it wants everyone to know it. The new concepts are stripped-back, lightweight two-wheelers, one aimed at off-road fun and the other more for city commuting. And the LiveWire? New details of that include Brembo brakes, adjustable Showa suspension, cornering-enhanced anti-lock brakes, traction control, and 0-60 in 3.5 seconds with a 110 mile range. The “twist ’n go” bike is all very premium then, and it looks cool… but will it sound like a Harley should?
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Back-seat drivers will never have to shout again if they sign up for Harman’s gadget at CES this year, a hi-tech take on in-car communication. A system of microphones and voice processing software creates what Harman calls the ideal environment for conversation within the car, so that no one need raise their voice ever again – yep, not even those sitting right at the back of the biggest SUV. Harman is going further as well by offering “world-leading beamforming microphones, echo cancellation and noise reduction algorithms” to take the annoying background noise out of in-car phone calls. Either all this or just buy a Rolls-Royce…
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Well they are in the US at least where for around $500 you can get a set of digital license plates. Previewing at CES is the Rplate Pro which can be programmed to display messages as well as be used to digitally pay for parking and road tolls. There’s a different registration system of course over there, so this modern take on James Bond’s Aston DB5’s revolving numberplate is one digital revolution unlikely to make it across the pond.
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Helicopter giants Bell revealed Nexus at CES this year, a hybrid-electric air taxi for when the only way to beat the traffic jams is up. Calling on its expertise with its military vertical take-off and landing “tilt-rotors”, the Nexus uses six tilting ducted fans to get off the ground and for forward thrust when airborne. The short hop taxi is said to do 150mph, have a 150 mile range – and be quite happy going south of the river.
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Cars that can “talk” to each other has been big news for ages, the latest thing is cars that can talk to other cars… and everything else as well. It’s known as ConVeX (or C-V2X), and the latest is being showcased at CES as a joint project between Ducati, Audi and Ford. What’s the point of it? One example neatly sums up the potential benefit: a person steps into the street in front of a car – which suddenly stops well before hitting them. How? Because the car was alerted to the danger by that person’s smartphone and automatically braked. ConVeX links cars, bikes, lorries with pedestrians, road works and street infrastructure. Ducati, Audi and Ford now want to see it rolled out globally.
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